His Deceitful Queen

Chapter 8

Amaya's POV

I watched my masked stranger walk out of the room leaving me hanging again. I picked up the envelope as I sat up and opened it up. It was full of money again but no note this time. I knew deep down this was the man sending me random things. The next time he came in I was going to demand to know who he was. While there was something hot about a man in a mask doing things to me that I shouldn't allow but for some reason I couldn't stop him. I wanted it. There was a level of thrill and excitement with it, but I needed to know who it was.

I was finally done for the night, and I was desperate for some relief. I wanted to text Jake but felt like that might seem a little desperate or a little slutty but let's be honest, I was. I just let a stranger eat me out on the stage of a private room.

"Hey, Aaron, are their security cameras here?" I asked one of the security guards.

"Nope. That is why there are so many of us."

"OK, thanks," I told him and made my way over to my little desk. I was hoping I could review them and see who this man was.

I sat down at the desk and there was a long white box with black satin ribbon around it. I set my envelope down and grabbed the box smiling at myself. I gently undid the ribbon and placed it on the desk and took off the lid and I gasped at seeing the most beautiful black rose laying on top of bed red tissue paper. There was a diamond necklace wrapped around the rose. I pulled the rose out and another note fell out. I undid the necklace and held it up. It looked real and it was beautiful.

"You got a black rose?" one of the other dancers asked when she saw me holding it.

"Yes."

"From who?"

"I'm not really sure."

"Be careful," she said and walked away. I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. I placed the necklace around my neck and opened the envelope and pulled the little card out. "Can," was written on it. I wasn't sure what they were trying to tell me.

I packed up my rose and threw my cash in my purse and quickly got dressed and left. I jumped on the subway and headed home. I quickly made it into my apartment and put the rose into a cup of water because I didn't have a vase to put it in. Then I went and sat down on my futon and pulled out all the cash I had earned for the night and started counting it.

With the money from the private dance, I had almost two thousand dollars. That was the most I had ever made, and it was going to make a big dent in things for me. If this stranger kept it up, I would be able to move into a little safer neighborhood soon. I put all the money back into the envelope and moved my card with the others and went and got in a long hot shower and then headed to bed.

I woke up at eleven to my phone ringing. I grabbed it off my little nightstand and answered it without even looking to see who was calling.

"Hey pretty lady, can I interest you in lunch?" Jake asked on the other end of the phone.

"That sounds great. Where are you thinking?"

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yes." I told him and I felt bad because he didn't know the full truth about me yet. I would need to come clean sooner rather than later. I liked him a lot and I didn't want this to be a problem.

"Sleepy head. What's close to you? I will come to you." he said.

"There is a little bistro across from the doctor's office I work at."

"Sounds good, how about noon?"

I looked around the room for some reason. I wasn't sure if I could make it there that fast. I didn't know want him to know where I lived just yet.

"Can you do twelve thirty? I need to jump in the shower."

"Works perfectly. I will see you then," he said and hung up.

I jumped out of bed and jumped in the shower really fast. I didn't need one but used it to wake myself up all the way. I threw on some light makeup and put my hair in a pony and found a cute short flowy skirt and a crop top and a pair of sandals. It was warm today and I could use the sun. Grabbing my jacket and purse, I left the house locking my three locks quickly and ran down the stairs.

I walked into the bistro and saw Jake sitting there all smiles. He stood up and hugged me as we sat down.

"You look radiant today," he said, giving me that little boy smile he seemed to have. He may have been a large man; some would even say a little scary, but I think deep down he was like a big teddy bear.

"Thank you."

"What is good here?"

"I usually just get a salad," I told him lying through my teeth, I haven't eaten here. I don't eat out; it costs too much but you could never go wrong with salad. Most men wanted something more.

"Why don't we branch out and try something new then?"

"Their Philly cheese steak sandwich looks good," I told him, and he nodded in agreement with me.

We sat there and visited through the whole lunch again. He was so easy to talk to and to look at. I was still needy from last night. I was too tired to take care of things myself and I wasn't sure how to approach this with him. I couldn't just outright ask him for things I wanted but damn it if I didn't want to right now.

We walked out of the restaurant, and he grabbed my hand and we just walked down the sidewalk, going nowhere in particular and just enjoying the sun. Neither of us spoke but it felt nice. I felt safe with him for once and the man was feeding me and making sure that I had a full stomach which it has been a while since that had happened.

"Where do you live, I will walk you home," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"But maybe I want to walk you home and kiss you on your doorstep."

"How about I walk you home and kiss you on your doorstep," I told him, smiling at him.

He placed his hand under my chin and titled my head up to look at him and he slowly leaned down and kissed me. The second our lips touched my body went limp against his. His hands wrapped around me, and he deepened the kiss. I opened up and he entered my mouth and our tongues danced along each other.

When we finally pulled back, we were both out of breath and smiling. I stood up on my tip toes and leaned in until I was right next to his ear. "Let's go back to your place," I whispered and pulled back.

He went to say something, but his phone went off. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and the look on his face told me he wasn't happy about whatever that was.

"I'm sorry. I would love to take you back to my place, but something just came up at work and I have to go in. Can I call you later?"

"Sure." I told him and quickly kissed him on the cheek and walked away. I was slightly disappointed, but this gave me some time to go pick up some groceries that were so needed.

This was one of the major downfalls to New York City. If you couldn't afford rideshares you had to carry your groceries home and on the subway that was a pain. I guess that it didn't matter because I had only bought two bags of groceries.

By the time I made it to my apartment my arms were burning from carrying the two bags and my door was wide open. My heart sank knowing that someone was in here. I hurried inside and locked the doors behind me. Looking around, everything seemed to be in place. I don't understand what this was about, but I ran to the futon and unzipped the cover that was on it and reached inside and pulled out the envelope that held my money. Breathing a sigh of relief, that it was still there.

I need to change my locks now. I didn't feel safe here when someone easily broke into my place but why would they break in and then not take anything or at least look for something, but it seems that things hadn't been touched. I needed help and I only knew two people that could help and one didn't know where I lived and I didn't want him to, so I swallowed my pride and hit send on Ryan's number.

"I knew you would be calling again. Miss me so much that you don't care about my wife anymore."

"God you're an ass, but I need your help."

"What do you need help with?" He asked and I knew where this was going.

"I need my locks changed. I don't have the money to call a locksmith and you're the only person I can call."

"I'll come over tomorrow after work."

"No, someone broke in and I can't stay here tonight without them changed and if I can't afford a lock smith, I can't afford a hotel."

"I'll come over and do it but you're going to be spreading those legs for me once I'm done." he said.

I didn't reply. I didn't want to sleep with him. I just needed a little help, and I was so mad at myself for calling him.

"Never f*****g mind and lose my number." I yelled into the phone and threw it down on the futon mattress.

As much as I didn't want to, I was going to have to buy the locks and the tools to change them. I grabbed enough money and googled a hardware store. It was ten blocks away and open for another hour. I set out and walked as fast as I could. I would have to hurry and pray that the things weren't that expensive.

I got there with fifteen minutes to spare. I walked around the store very confused. I knew nothing about any of this.

"Can I help you?" an older gentleman asked me.

"Yes, actually. I need to change the locks on my door, and I don't have a clue what I am doing."

"What kind of locks do you have?"

"I have two deadbolts and a chain and a regular doorknob."

"You live over by blazer park?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I live in that area. If you give me a few minutes, I'll close the shop and grab everything you need and we will get you some better locks," he said.

"That would be amazing. How much is that going to be?"

"Just pay for the cost of the locks he said."

I breathed out a sigh of relief because I didn't know how else I was going to do this. I hated it when I had to spend money on s**t that I shouldn't but this I would have too.